6.
Accessibility vs. Usability
Accessibility
Extent to which content is
accessible, to widest possible
audience.
Websites = “spaces in the
public domain.” Required by
US law to be accessible
Often contained in underlying
code
Usability
How easy it is to successfully
use a website
Not required by law (but a
good idea!)
Often more obvious, selfevident
Can be Accessible but not Usable, or vice versa.
Not only for older people, or people with disabilities.
Improvements made for 1 population often benefit others.
Wiser Usability AIA 2013

45.
Guidelines: General Accessibility
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Images should include alt and title text
Code lists as HTML lists, e.g., <ul> or <ol>
Specify layout and appearance in CSS, not in
HTML
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Don’t use HTML appearance tags: <b>, <font>, etc.
Use tables only to display tabular data
Provide Skip Nav links on every page
Navbar links to current page should be inactive
In internal anchors, use id= instead of name=
Declare character set on every HTML page
Wiser Usability AIA 2013